1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an instrument panel mounting structure in which an instrument panel of an automobile is mounted on a partition wall that separates an engine compartment from a passenger compartment of a vehicle body.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional instrument panel mounting structure is shown in FIG. 5 in which an instrument panel is mounted on a partition wall separating an engine compartment from a passenger compartment.
An equipment box 4 is provided on a partition wall 3 separating an engine compartment 1 from a passenger compartment 2 of an automobile, and an engine control unit 10 is accommodated therein for controlling an engine. A plurality of female connectors 12a to 12c are secured to the engine control unit 10 via a wiring harness.
An opening 4a is formed in a bottom of the equipment box 4 for allowing the connectors 12a to 12c to be pulled into the passenger compartment 2. In addition, the equipment box 4 is designed to be given an interior space larger than the engine control unit 10 so as to accommodate therein the female connectors 12a to 12c and male connectors 22a to 22c on an instrument panel 20 side, which will be described later, together with the associated wiring harness 11 after those connector are connected to each other, respectively.
Provided on an instrument panel 20 are a connector mounting portion 21 to which the male connectors 22a to 22c are fixed and an instrument panel fixing portion 23 at which the instrument panel 20 is fixed to the vehicle body.
In general, a connector secures an electrical connection when a male terminal is press fitted in a female terminal. Due to this, the number of pins is limited to that which allows connectors to manually be connected to each other. Thus, as shown in FIG. 5, the leading end of the wiring harness 11 is divided into a plurality portions so that a plurality of connectors 12a to 12c, 22a to 22c are used to satisfy required connections.
Next, shown in FIG. 6A, FIG. 6B and FIG. 6C are a conventional instrument panel mounting procedure. FIG. 6A shows a state in which the engine control unit 10 is mounted in the equipment box 4 and in this state, a pre-process is completed for a mounting process of an instrument panel. FIG. 6B shows a state in which the female connectors 12a to 12c on the engine control unit 10 side are connected to the male connectors 22a to 22c on the instrument panel 20 side, respectively. FIG. 6C shows a state in which mounting of the instrument panel 20 is completed.
In mounting the instrument panel 20 on the partition wall 3, a worker starts from the state shown in FIG. 6A and opens a lid 4b to the equipment box 4 from the engine compartment side so that the female connectors 12a to 12c are allowed to suspend from the opening 4a in the bottom of the equipment box 4 into the passenger compartment 2 side. Next, as shown in FIG. 6B, with the instrument panel 20 being retained with a jig, the female connectors 12a to 12c are connected to the male connectors 22a to 22c, respectively. Moreover, the instrument panel 20 is positioned relative to the partition wall 3 while pushing the wiring harness 11 and the then connected connectors 12a to 12c and 22a to 22c, and then as shown in FIG. 6C, the instrument panel 20 is fixed with bolts 24 to the partition wall 3 or any other suitable position on the vehicle body at the instrument panel fixing portion 23.
According to the aforesaid conventional instrument panel mounting structure, however, the female connectors 12a to 12c on the engine control unit 10 side have to manually be connected to the male connectors 22a to 22c on the instrument panel 20 side. In view of work involved in a narrow space such as inside a cockpit of an automobile, this leads to a drawback in that a very difficult mounting operation is required.
In addition, provided on the instrument panel 20 are equipment directly relating to driving of an automobile such as a speedometer and a fuel gauge, and other equipment such as an air conditioner, audio equipment, a GPS car navigation system, and air bags. This tends to increase the number of circuits required. In conjunction with increase in number of connectors, there is increasingly caused a risk of erroneous connections, and failures to or of connection.
Furthermore, since the equipment box 4 is designed to accommodate therein the connected connectors 12a to 12c, 22a to 22c and the associated wiring harness 11, with increase in number of connectors, the equipment box 4 also has to be made larger, this leading to a drawback in that the equipment box 4 shares a larger space inside the engine compartment 1.
The present invention was made to solve the aforesaid problems inherent in the prior art and an object thereof is to provide an instrument panel mounting structure that can allow an increase in number of connectors without any increase in size of an equipment box, which can effect easy and secure connections between connectors on the engine control unit side and connectors on the instrument panel side, and which can allow an instrument panel to be mounted on a partition wall separating an engine compartment from a passenger compartment in an extremely easy fashion.
With a view to attaining the above object, the present invention provides an instrument panel mounting structure in which an instrument panel including at least a first connector is mounted on a partition wall which separates an engine compartment from a passenger compartment while said first connector is being connected to a second connector of an engine control unit fixed to said partition wall, wherein in a case where with the second connector being fixed to the engine control unit, the instrument panel is mounted on the partition wall, the engine control unit is fixed to the partition wall such that the second connector faces the first connector on an instrument panel side and is located at a position allowing the second connector to be connected to said first connector, whereby positioning and temporary fixation of the instrument panel relative to the partition wall is effected by connecting the first connector to the second connector.
In the above construction, the engine control unit may be allowed to finely move so that the second connector can finely move in transverse and longitudinal directions.
In addition, lever-type connectors may be used as the first and second connectors in which a swivel lever having an engagement portion is provided on one of the lever-type connectors, while a boss adapted to engage the engagement portion of the swivel lever is provided on the other.
Furthermore, male threads may be provided in the first connector, while female threads may be provided in the second connector for thread engagement with the male threads.
The present disclosure relates to the subject matter contained in Japanese patent application No. Hei. 10-374155 (filed on Dec. 28, 1998) which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirely.